Shovel.



. ..v u V Z Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

C. LE R BEALL.

SHOVEL APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17. I915 CHARLES LE noY BEALL, or ALTON, .ILLInoIs.

- sHovEL.

Specification of Letters Efatent.

Patented pee. in, ion

Application filed February 17, 1915. Serial No. 8,803.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GI-[ARLES'LE ROY BEALL, a citizen of the United States of America, a resident of Alton, in the county of Madison, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shovels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formin a part of this specification.

l y invention relates to improvements in shovels, and more specifically stated, to means for reinforcing shovel blades at the junctions of the handle sockets and the rear walls of the shovels, and also at the junctions of the rear walls and bottoms of the blades.

The main object of the invention is to produce a strong shovel that is very materially reinforced at points which are subjected to severe strains and the improvement lies in a specific arrangement of ribs, pressed from the shovel blade in a particular manner to most effectively reinforce said points.

Prior to this invention, shovel blades have been reinforced by ribs located adjacent to the handle sockets, and also by ribs extending from points near the handle sockets to points. near the transverse centers of the shovel blades. Shovels are subjected to severe strainsat these points, and many attempts have been made to produce reinforc- 4 ing elements capable of preventing breakage at such points without materially reducing the capacity of the shovels, and without defleeting the material thrown from the shovels. However, in so far as I am aware, the prior reinforcing elements have not been entirely successful.

Therefore, an important object of my invention is to produce a precise arrangement of ribs of a particular shape. pressed from the shovel blade, and located in certain relative positions with respect to each other and with respect to the handle socket; so as to serve as reinforcing elements which provide the required strength at the points which have not heretofore been amply reinforced.

Figure I is a top or planview of my shovel, a portion of the handle being broken away. Fig. II is a vertical section taken on the longitudinal center line of the shovel. Fig. III is a transverse section taken on the line IIIIII, Fig.II. Fig. IV is a section taken on the line IV-IV, Fig. II. Fig. V is a section taken on the line V-V, Fig. I.

The shovel blade and handle socket are -made from a single piece of sheet metal,

pressed to form a bottom 1, sidewalls 2, a rear wall 3, a tubular handle socket 4, reinforcing ribs 5 and a reinforcingweb 6. A handle 7 is fitted to the handle socket 4.

A tubular handle socket 4t merges into and terminates at rear wall 3, and the reinforcing ribs 5 merge into said handle socket and diverge from each other at said rear wall. The reinforcing ribs 5 are separated from each other at the junction of the rear wall and bottom wall, and the metal is pressed outwardly at the junction of said Walls to form the sloping web 6 which lies between and merges into the diverging portions of said ribs 5. While the crowns of the. ribs 5 gradually merge into each other, at the same time merging into the tubular handle socket, it will be noted that said ribs are approximately straight and approximately parallel with each other at points on opposite sides of the transverse center of the bottom wall 1. The object in forming the ribs and web in this precise manner is to very greatly reinforce the structure at the points where it is subjected to the most severe strains in service, at the same time arranging the web and ribs in such a manner that they will not deflect or retard the material thrown-from the shovel.

The ribs 5 merging into the handle socket, distribute the strains to points on opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the'shovel, and these ribs are well adapted to resist the strains tending to break the blade at the inner end of the handle socket. It is important to note that the ribs 5 are separated from each other at the junction of the bottom 1 and rear wall 3, for the tendency to bend and break at this point is very great, and the separated'ribs merging into web 6 and handle socket 4 are capable of resisting the most severe strains at said point. I deem this specific structure an important improvement because in so far as I am aware, shovels have never been amply or perfectly reinforced at the points referred to.

I claim 1. A sheet metal shovel blade pressed to form a bottom, a rear wall, a handle socket merging into said rear wall, and a pair of ribs having crowns which merge into each other and into said handle socket at said rear wall, said ribs being so formed that they diverge from each other at said rear wall and extend along said bottom, and a and bottom, and the metal being pressed sloping web being 'formed between the dioutwardly at the junction of said rear Wall verging portions of said ribs. and bottom to form a sloping Web which lies 2. A sheet metal shovel blade pressed to between and merges into the divergingpor- 5- form a bottom, a gear wall, a handle s(%cket' tions of said ribs.

terminating at sai rear wall, and rein orc- K ing ribs merging into said handle socket and CHARLES LE ROY BEALL' diverging from each other at said rear Wall, In the presence 0fsaid reinforcing ribsbeing separated from E. H. BEALL,- 10 each bther at the junction of saidrear Wall L. G. HEINTZ.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for fivecents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

